“Sometimes guys need to cry. Some hockey players think they’re too tough to cry.”
Brett Hull, Athlete
Advantages & Disadvantages of Playing Hockey
Hockey is one of the most popular sports in the United States.
Millions of people play ice hockey on a regular basis.
Although there are many upsides related to playing hockey, there are also some problems related to it.
In this article, the pros and cons of playing ice hockey are examined in detail.
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Contents
Advantages of Hockey
- Improvement in confidence
- Hockey is a team sport
- Fitness level improvements
- New friends
- Competition is encouraged
- Potential college scholarships
- Playing hockey may become your main job
- You can unplug from your daily life
- Improvements in reflexes
- Good to reduce stress levels
Improvement in confidence
One major advantage of playing hockey is that it can give you a significant boost in confidence.
You will have to engage in fights and will have to stand your ground from time to time.
Moreover, you will also improve over time, which will further increase your confidence level.
Thus, hockey can be a great way to form your character and to really transform from a shy to a confident person, which will be quite beneficial in all parts of your later life.
Hockey is a team sport
Since hockey is a team sport, you will learn how a team works and that everyone has his or her role to play.
Thus, by playing ice hockey, you may also learn to put your team first, which can also be quite important in the corporate world in order to make projects succeed.
Therefore, the team working skills that you learn in hockey may also benefit you in several other parts of your life.
Fitness level improvements
Since hockey is a quite physical sport, you may also be able to improve your overall fitness level significantly.
Many people in our nowadays society work in office jobs and suffer from a lack of exercise.
If you are one of those people, playing hockey on a recreational basis may significantly improve your fitness as well as your overall health level since chances for serious diseases may become much lower in the long run.
New friends
Due to the nature of hockey, you will be able to make many really good friends over time.
In hockey, the team is the star and every teammate is obliged to help each other in case of conflicts or brawls with other teams.
Some people even make friends for a lifetime from their hockey career.
Therefore, if you want to make really good friends, playing ice hockey can be a great way to do so.
Competition is encouraged
Through playing hockey, you will also learn how to compete.
Especially if you play it on a higher level and also play against other teams, you will quickly learn what is important to win games and to take on your competition.
Learning how to compete is quite important, not only for hockey but also for several other parts of our life since life is one big competition and people who know how to deal with this fact will be much more successful in life on average.
Potential college scholarships
In case you are really good at playing hockey, you may even be eligible for college scholarships.
Yet, in order to get one of those scholarships, you have to be excellent and among millions of other youth hockey players, this is not easy at all.
Playing hockey may become your main job
You can also earn serious money by playing hockey.
If you are really good at ice hockey, you can even earn millions of dollars in the NHL.
However, to earn enough money for a living, you have to be extraordinarily good and most people will never get to this level.
Thus, make sure to have valid alternatives in case your hockey career fails for several possible reasons.
You can unplug from your daily life
Another benefit of playing hockey is that you will be able to unplug from your daily life.
Quite often, we suffer from excessive information overload through our smartphones and many people feel that they have to be available all day long.
However, this can lead to serious mental issues for some people and hockey might be a great tool to take some time off and to unplug from all connections to the outside world in order to free your mind.
Improvements in reflexes
Hockey is a quite fast sport and therefore, you will be able to greatly improve your reflexes.
Moreover, also your overall anticipation capacities will become much better.
All those features are not only beneficial for playing hockey, but also for many other parts of our daily life.
For instance, in stressful times at your job, you may have to make fast but yet profound decisions and your anticipation that you learned in hockey may help you to make those decisions in the best possible way.
Good to reduce stress levels
Many people in our nowadays society are often also quite stressed due to their demanding job or from their private lives.
Hence, if you suffer from serious stress levels in your life, you might want to try hockey since it can help you to reduce your stress.
In turn, you may be able to avoid serious health problems that are associated with excessive levels of stress.
Disadvantages of Playing Ice Hockey
- Can be hard to learn at the beginning
- Injuries are quite common
- You can’t play ice hockey alone
- Hockey is a quite physical sport
- Potential trouble with teammates
- You need plenty of equipment
- Time-consuming sport
- Motivation issues
- Hockey can be an expensive hobby
- Hard to find hockey spots for leisure
- Need for a professional trainer
- You may have to decide between your hockey and your corporate career
- Pressure can be significant
- Other sports may fit you better
- Talent is a huge factor in hockey
Can be hard to learn at the beginning
Apart from the many advantages of hockey, there are also some issues related to playing hockey.
One problem with hockey is that it can be quite hard to learn how to play it at the beginning.
You will have to learn how to be a good skater first.
This will be the foundation of playing hockey on a serious level. Skating on a high level is not easy and requires plenty of practice.
Moreover, once you learned how to skate, you will still have to learn how to coordinate your movements with your hockey stick and the puck.
Thus, hockey is not easy to learn at all and it may take you quite a while until you make some progress.
Injuries are quite common
Since hockey is such a physical sport, injuries are quite common.
Many hockey players suffer from numerous injuries during their career and also on an amateur level, hockey players may experience serious injuries, also due to the fact that most of them do not really know what they are doing at the beginning.
You can’t play ice hockey alone
Another downside of hockey is that you cannot play it alone.
In order to play ice hockey, you need at least a few other people.
Sure, you can practice your skating skills alone, yet it will not be too much fun without other teammates.
Therefore, if you find nobody who wants to play with you, you might not be able to practice hockey in an efficient manner.
Hockey is a quite physical sport
Many people may also not like playing hockey since it is quite a physical sport.
Hockey often involves brawls and if the puck hits you in the face, chances are that you will lose some teeth.
Hence, hockey is definitely not for everyone and many people may be scared to play it due to the various health problems that could arise.
Potential trouble with teammates
During your hockey career, chances are that you will also get in trouble with your teammates from time to time.
Especially in periods in which results are quite bad, you and your teammates may become frustrated, which may lead to serious discussions sooner or later.
Thus, better be prepared that it can get rough, even within your own team.
You need plenty of equipment
Hockey is a sport that requires plenty of protection.
While you can start playing soccer and many other sports with rather limited equipment, you will need plenty of equipment for playing hockey.
In turn, this can become quite expensive and you may have to spend many hundreds or even thousands of dollars on hockey equipment.
Time-consuming sport
Hockey is also quite time-consuming.
While it takes quite long to learn the basic skills, it may take even longer to perfect your skills.
Therefore, be prepared to spend plenty of time on hockey in case you want to get to a higher level.
Motivation issues
Since hockey is not easy to learn and requires plenty of time, many people may become quite unmotivated over time and give up.
Therefore, if you are a person who gives up easily, hockey may not be the right sport for you.
Hockey can be an expensive hobby
Due to all the equipment you need for playing hockey, it can be considered to be a rather expensive sport.
Moreover, over time, your hockey stick may break and you have to replace it.
Thus, make sure to have a little bit of money to spend on your sport if you consider playing hockey on a professional level.
Hard to find hockey spots for leisure
If you don’t want to join a hockey club for various reasons, it might also be quite hard for you to find an opportunity to play it.
Most of the hockey rinks are used by professional teams and there is not too much room left for recreational hockey.
Consequently, make sure to join a hockey club if you want to have the opportunity to practice hockey on a regular basis.
Need for a professional trainer
If you really aspire to a professional hockey career, you will likely need a personal trainer who can give you tips on how to improve your skills so that you can take the next step in your career.
However, those hockey coaches can be quite expensive.
Hence, you may have to invest plenty of money in your hockey career if you want to get a return back in the future.
You may have to decide between your hockey and your corporate career
Since playing hockey on a professional level is quite time-consuming, you will have to choose between your corporate and your hockey career sooner or later since you will not manage to do both.
Always keep in mind that the chances of becoming a professional hockey player who earns quite good money are extremely low and going for a corporate career might be the much safer option.
Pressure can be significant
If you want to play hockey on a professional level, also the pressure can be significant.
Thousands or even millions of people will watch what you do on TV and if you make mistakes, you may even get shitstorms over social media.
Therefore, make sure that you have a stable personality in case you want to go for a professional hockey career.
Other sports may fit you better
Some people also don’t like playing hockey at all.
Therefore, if you don’t like this sport, just go for another hobby which fits you better.
Talent is a huge factor in hockey
Many people also underestimate how important talent really is to achieve a professional hockey career.
Even if you work hard, you will need a certain talent.
Otherwise, you will likely never make it in the NHL.
Top 10 Hockey Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Hockey Pros | Hockey Cons |
|---|---|
| Playing hockey can improve your fitness | Hockey is a quite physical sport |
| You may become more confident | Plenty of injuries |
| You learn teamwork | Can be exhausting |
| May turn into a professional career | You need plenty of equipment |
| You can unplug from your daily life | Hockey can be an expensive hobby |
| Hockey can reduce stress | Trouble with teammates |
| You can find new friends | May hurt your corporate career |
| You learn how to compete | Significant pressure |
| Scholarships | You may not like playing ice hockey |
| Improvement of reflexes | Talent is a huge factor |
Should You Play Hockey?
From the previous analysis, it has become clear that there are many pros and cons of playing hockey.
In the end, you have to decide whether playing hockey is the way to go for you or not.
For instance, if you don’t like playing hockey, you may want to go for playing soccer or playing tennis instead.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey
https://www.britannica.com/sports/ice-hockey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Hockey_League
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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